S.  R.  A.— B.  S.  56. 


wj,\,iv/  OF  FL  LIB. 
•  1V1ENTS  PEPT, 


RY  Itfeued  September  1,  1923 


United  States  Department  oi  Agriculture. 


SERVICE  AND  REGULATORY  ANNOUNCEMENTS, 
BUREAU  OF  BIOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


REGULATIONS   FOR   THE   PROTECTION    OF   LAND    FUR-BEARING 
ANIMALS  IN  ALASKA. 

The  act  of  May  31,  1920,  entitled  "An  act  making  appropriations 
for  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June 
30,  1921  "  (41  Stat.,  694,  at  pp.  716-717),  conferred  upon  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  the  powers  and  duties  theretofore  conferred  upon 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce,  by  law,  proclamations,  or  Executive 
orders,  with  respect  to  any  mink,  marten,  beaver,  land  otter,  musk- 
rat,  fox,  wolverene,  weasel,  or  other  land  fur-bearing  animal  in 
Alaska. 

Section  1956  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  as  amended  by  section  173 
of  the  act  of  March  3,  1899  (30  Stat.,  1253),  and  by  section  4  of  the 
act  of  April  21,  1910  (36  Stat.,  326-327),  provides  that— 

No  person  shall  kill  any  otter,  mink,  marten,  sable,  or  fur  seal,  or  other  fur- 
bearing  animal,  within  the  limits  of  Alaska  Territory  or  in  the  waters  thereof ; 
and  every  person  guilty  thereof  shall,  for  each  offense,  be  fined  not  less  than 
two  hundred  nor  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  or  imprisoned  not  more  than 
six  months,  or  both ;  and  all  vessels,  their  tackle,  apparel,  furniture,  and  cargo 
found  engaged  in  violation  of  this  section  shall  be  forfeited ;  but  the  Secre- 
tary of  Commerce  and  Labor  shall  have  power  to  authorize  the  killing  of  any 
such  mink,  marten,  sable,  fur  seal,  or  other  fur-bearing  animal  under  such 
regulations  as  he  may  prescribe;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  to  prevent  the  killing  of  any  fur  seal  except  as  author- 
ized by  law  and  to  provide  for  the  execution  of  the  provisions  of  this  section 
until  it  is  otherwise  provided  by  law. 

Pursuant  to  the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture under  the  aforesaid  acts  of  Congress,  the  following  regula- 
tions effective  September  1,  1923,  are  prescribed  to  govern  the  kill- 
ing of  land  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska : 

REGULATION  1.— DISTRICTS. 

For  the  purpose  of  enforcing  this  act  the  Territory  of  Alaska  is  hereby 
divided  into  three  districts  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  map  and  described 
as  follows : 

District  1  includes  the  Aleutian  Islands,  Alaska  Peninsula  and  neighboring 
islands,  and  Southeastern  Alaska,  mainland  and  islands,  from  Yakutat  Bay  to 
Dixon   Entrance. 

District  2  includes  the  mainland  and  islands  from  Yakutat  Bay,  Gulf  of 
Alaska,  Iliamna  Lake,  and  Bristol  Bay,  northward  to  the  headwaters  of  the 

60923—23 


2  BUREAU   OF   BIOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 

streams  flowing  into  the  Arctic  Ocean  north  of  the  sixty-eighth  parallel  of 
north  latitude. 

District  3  includes  the  region  drained  by  the  streams  entering  the  Arctic 
Ocean  north  of  the  sixty-eighth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 

REGULATION  2.— UNPRIME   PELTS. 

No  land  fur-bearing  animal  shall  be  killed  when  its  pelt  is  unprime. 

REGULATION  3.— BEAVER. 

There  is  hereby  established  a  closed  season  on  beaver  throughout  the  Terri- 
tory until  November  16,  1924. 


Map  of  Alaska,  showing  fur  districts. 
REGULATION   4.— KRUZOF  AND   PARTOFSHIKOF  ISLANDS. 

The   killing   of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal   on   Kruzof   and   Partofshikof 
Islands  is  hereby  prohibited  until  September  1,  1925. 


REGULATION   5.— OPEN   SEASONS. 

Land  fur-bearing  animals  may  be  killed  in  the  specified  districts  during  the 
following  open  seasons: 

District  1 :  (See  exceptions  for  the  Kodiak-Afognak  Islands  Group.) 
Muskrat,  December  16  to  April  80,  both  dates  inclusive. 
Marten.  November  16  to  March  31,  both  dates  inclusive. 
Mink,  land  otter,  and  weasel    (ermine),  December  16  to  March  31,  both 

dates  inclusive. 
Bear — black,  cinnamon,  and  glacier — September  1  to  June  30,  both  dates 

inclusive. 
Fox — red,  cross,  and  silver,  and  lynx — November  16  to  February  15,  both 

dates  inclusive. 
Line    fox — on    the    Aleutian    Islands    Reservation    only — November    16    to 

February  15,  both  dates  inclusive. 
Wolf  or  wolverene,  no  closed  season. 


SERVICE  AND   REGULATORY  ANNOUNCEMENTS.  6 

Exceptions:  Kodiak-Afognak   Islands  Group,  including  Dark   Island   as 
the  outermost  island  on  the  north,  Marmot  Island  on  the  east,  and  Tugidak 
and  Trinity  Islands  on  the  west  and  south — 
Fox — red,  cross,  and  silver — land  otter,  weasel   (ermine),  Novemher  16  to 

February  15,  both  dates  inclusive. 
District  2: 

Muskrat,  May  1  to  June  10,  both  dates  inclusive. 

Marten,  mink,  land  otter,  and  weasel  (ermine),  November  16  to  March  31, 

both  dates  inclusive. 
Fox — red,   cross,   and  silver — and  lynx,   November  16  to   March  15,   both 

dates  inclusive. 
Fox — white  and  blue — (north  of  latitude  62°,  and  on  Bering  Sea  drainage 

south  of  latitude  62°,  to  Bristol  Bay),  December  1  to  March  31,  both 

dates  inclusive. 
Black,  cinnamon,  or  glacier  bear,  wolf,  or  wolverene  may  be  killed  at  any 

time. 
District  3: 

Muskrat,  May  1  to  June  10,  both  dates  inclusive. 

Marten,  mink,  land  otter,  and  weasel  (ermine),  November  16  to  March  31, 

both  dates  inclusive. 
Fox  and  lynx,  December  1  to  March  31,  both  d.-ites  inclusive. 
Black,  cinnamon,  or  glacier  bear,  wolf,  or  wolverene  may  be  killed  at  any 

time. 

REGULATION    6.— ARTIFICIAL    LIGHTS    AND    DESTRUCTION    OF    HOUSES,    DAMS,    OR 

RUNWAYS   OF   BEAVER. 

The  killing  of  any  of  the  following  land  fur-bearing  animals,  viz :  White  fox, 
blue  fox,  red  fox,  cross  fox,  black  or  silver  fox,  mink,  marten  (American 
sable),  land  otter,  weasel  (ermine),  muskrat,  and  beaver,  by  the  use  of  a  jack 
or  pit  lamp  or  any  other  artificial  light,  and  the  destruction  of  the  houses, 
dams,  or  runways  of  beaver  by  the  use  of  dynamite  or  other  explosives,  or  in 
any  other  manner,  is  prohibited  at  all  times. 

REGULATION  7.— TRAPS. 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  at  any  time  by  means  of  the  trap 
or  device  known  as  the  "  klips,"  or  by  means  of  any  steel  bear  trap  or  any  other 
trap  with  jaws  having  a  spread  exceeding  8  inches,  is  prohibited. 

REGULATION    8.— DOGS. 

The  use  of  dogs  for  pursuing  and  killing  any  land  fur-bearing  animal,  ex- 
cept bear,  for  which  a  close  season  is  prescribed  for  any  period,  is  prohibited. 

REGULATION  9.— POISON. 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  by  means  of  strychnine  or  any 
other  poison  is  prohibited  at  all  times. 

REGULATION    10.— SEIZURE    OF   SKINS. 

All  skins  of  land  fur-bearing  animals  killed  in  violation  of  these  regulations 
found  in  the  possession  of  any  person  in  Alaska  shall  be  seized  by  wardens  and 
other  officers  designated  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  or  other  officers  au- 
thorized by  law,  and  such  wardens  and  other  officers  shall  hold  such  skins  for 
such  disposition  as  shall  be  ordered  by  the  court  having  jurisdiction  of  a  suit 
for  condemnation  and  forfeiture  thereof. 

REGULATION   11.— SHIPMENTS   OF   FURS   TO    3E   REPORTED. 

Shipments  of  furs  consigned  to  points  outside  of  Alaska,  which  may  be  made 
at  any  time,  shall  be  reported  to  the  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey.  Department 
of  Agriculture,  on  appropriate  blanks  which  will  be  supplied  for  that  purpose. 

On  and  after  September  1,  1923,  all  regulations  for  the  protection 
of  land  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska  made  and  published  by  the 


4  BUREAU    OF   BIOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture  under  authority  of  the  Alaska  fur  law 
prior  to  the  regulations  hereby  made  and  published  shall  be  and  are 
hereby  revoked. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  official  seal  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  to 
be  affixed,  in  the  City  of  Washington,  this  22d  day  of  August,  1923. 

[seal.]  Henry  C.  Wallace, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


Note. — The  Criminal  Code  of  Alaska  (Title  1,  Chap.  13,  sec.  186),  provides 
that  all  persons  concerned  in  the  commission  of  a  crime,  whether  they  directly 
commit  the  act  constituting  the  crime  or  aid  and  abet  in  its  commission,  though 
not  present,  are  principals,  and  are  to  be  tried  and  punished  as  such.  By  this 
section  any  person  knowingly  selling  poison  for  the  purpose  of  killing  land 
fur-bearing  animals  is  a  participator  in  the  crime  and  is  likewise  punishable. 
*  *  *  The  Criminal  Code  of  Alaska,  section  2043,  provides  that  if  any  person 
shall  sell  or  deliver  any  arsenic,  corrosive  sublimate,  prussic  acid,  or  other 
poison,  without  having  the  word  "  poison  "  and  the  true  name  thereof  in  Eng- 
lish written  or  printed  upon  a  label  attached  to  the  vial,  box,  or  parcel  contain- 
ing the  same,  such  person,  upon  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine 
of  not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars. 


Penalties  for  Unlawful  Shipment  and  Transportation. 

(Criminal  Cod^-Act  of  March  4,  1909.     35  Stat,  1137.) 

Sec.  242.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  deliver  to  any  common  car- 
rier for  transportation,  or  for  any  common  carrier  to  transport  from  any  State, 
Territory,  or  District  of  the  United  States,  to  any  other  State.  Territory, 
or  District  thereof,  any  foreign  animals  or  birds,  the  importation  of  which 
is  prohibited,  or  the  dead  bodies  or  parts  thereof  of  any  wild  animals 
or  birds,  where  such  animals  or  birds  have  been  killed  or  shipped  in  violation 
of  the  laws  of  the  State,  Territory,  or  District  in  which  the  same  were  killed, 
or  from  which  they  were  shipped :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  shall  prevent 
the  transportation  of  any  dead  birds  or  animals  killed  during  the  season  When 
the  same  may  be  lawfully  captured,  and  the  export  of  which  is  not  prohibited 
by  law  in  the  State,  Territory,  or  District  in  which  the  same  are  captured  or 
killed :  Provided  further,  That  nothing  herein  shall  prevent  the  importation, 
transportation,  or  sale  of  birds  or  bird  plumage  manufactured  from  the  feath- 
ers of  barnyard  fowls.     *     *     * 

Sec.  244.  For  each  evasion  or  violation  of  any  provision  of  the  three  last 
sections  preceding  the  shipper  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dol- 
lars; the  consignee  knowingly  receiving  such  articles  so  shipped  and  trans- 
ported in  violation  of  said  sections  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred 
dollars;  and  the  carrier  knowingly  carrying  or  transporting  the  same  in  viola- 
tion of  said  sections  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dollars. 


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